O. W. Gurley (December 25, 1867 – August 6, 1935) was once one of the wealthiest Black men and a founder of the Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as "Black Wall Street".
Ottaway W. Gurley was born in Huntsville, Alabama to John and Rosanna Gurley, formerly enslaved persons, and grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.[1]: 128 His mother was a housekeeper. His father was a teamster (wagon driver) at a time when Pine Bluff was entering into a period of massive growth. After attending public schools and self-educating, he worked as a teacher and in the postal service.[1]: 128 . While living in Pine Bluff, Gurley married Emma Wells, on November 6, 1889. They had no children. In 1893, he came to Oklahoma Territory to participate in the Land Run of 1893, staking a claim in what would be known as Perry, Oklahoma. The young entrepreneur had just resigned from an appointment under president Grover Cleveland to strike out on his own." In Perry he rose quickly, running unsuccessfully for treasurer of Noble County at first, but later becoming principal at the town's school and eventually starting and operating a general store for 10 years.
In 1905, Gurley sold his store and land in Perry and moved with his wife, Emma, to the oil boomtown of Tulsa, where he purchased 40 acres of land which was "only to be sold to colored."[1]: 194 The first law passed in the new State of Oklahoma, 33 days after statehood, set in place a Jim Crow system of legally enforced segregation, and required blacks and whites to live in separate areas. However, Oklahoma was considered a significant economic and social opportunity by Gurley, politician Edward P. McCabe and others, leading to the establishment of 50 all-black towns and settlements, among the highest of any state or territory.
Among Gurley's first businesses was a rooming house which was located on a dusty trail near the railroad tracks. This road was given the name Greenwood Avenue, named for a city in Mississippi. The area became very popular among black migrants fleeing the oppression in Mississippi. They would find refuge in Gurley's building, as the racial persecution from the south was non-existent on Greenwood Avenue. On the contrary, Greenwood was later dubbed Black Wall Street as it became increasingly self-sustained and catered to upwardly mobile Black people. Gurley also provided monetary loans to Black people wanting to start their own businesses.
In addition to his rooming house, Gurley built three two-story buildings and five residences and bought an 80-acre (32 ha) farm in Rogers County. Gurley also founded what is today Vernon AME Church. He also helped build a black Masonic lodge and an employment agency.
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